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I embarked on a similar course as the author - just after Christmas I realised my BMI was well into the overweight category - and the same strategy of calorie c

I embarked on a similar course as the author - just after Christmas I realised my BMI was well into the overweight category - and the same strategy of calorie counting worked for me. I can especially recommend using an app, this really helped me too. Turns it into a game almost - where can I cut out the unnecessary calories? Whereas before you might help yourself to a biscuit with a coffee now you know it is going to blow your budget right open. Makes it a lot easier to resist. And it was easier than I thought - a piece of fruit for breakfast, a small lunch (single sandwich, down from two with crisps and chocolate bar on top some days), and a normal evening meal. That would come to around 1500 calories or less a day, easily enough to lose a few pounds a week. It becomes easier as time goes on - your body expects less, I guess. And you do gravitate towards healthier food, simply because you can eat so much more of it. I've lost two and a half stone since then (I don't follow the diet at weekends so I could have lost more) and am back in the green. Not as much as the article's author - his loss was spectacular! Alas I did not take a before and after picture, though others have commented, which feels good. So yeah, great article that I can fully endorse, and encourage others to follow. Just set realistic targets, change will come eventually.

xevb3k 8y ago
Downloaded the app, immediately deleted it because it asked me to create an account. Are there any similar apps which store the data locally?
- feintruled 8y ago
  I used the Samsung Health fitness app, you can use it without an account I think. Seems to offer pretty much the same functionality (definitely does the calorie counting and targetting).
  - kofejnik 8y ago
    You don't need to create any accounts with Samsung, they already have all your data anyway, linked to your device Id. Your data is safe in their cloud, don't worry. /s
- csours 8y ago
  For people who are downvoting, these apps have a history of leaking personal data. For example: https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/29/17177848/under-armour-myfitnesspal-data-breach-150-million-accounts-security https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/29/17177848/under-armour-myf...
  - EpicEng 8y ago
    That is one instance of one app leaking data which is "not particularly sensitive." I bet you've had e.g. your email leaked many times by now by many companies. Are calorie counting apps _more_ likely to leak data as you are implying?
    - agrinman 8y ago
      I agree it's not that sensitive...but I guess that's because I'm biased and released all my own data willingly :)
- m_ke 8y ago
  We have an app called Bitesnap that doesn't have an account and works offline. We are working on syncing across devices though so at some point we'll add a way to create an optinal account.
- Kamshak 8y ago
  Excel
- waynecochran 8y ago
  If you just want to build your own iOS app you can fork mine (change the part the sends email to me as a back up): https://github.com/wcochran/calfoo https://github.com/wcochran/calfoo I just create my own "refrigerator" by manually adding foods I eat (no bar code scanner or online database). BTW, someone actually took forked my code and placed a version in the App store without ever asking me. I was sort of dumbfounded that someone would do this.
  - brazzledazzle 8y ago
    Looks like you don’t have a license so I think you could get it taken down if you wanted to.
    - waynecochran 8y ago
      I should have thrown a license on this, but it was really just a personal project and never meant it to be released into the wild (GitHub was just a place to store the code)... I suppose I should go back and update this, add a README, and a license.
      - haikuginger 8y ago
        GP is saying that since there is no license, the code is copyrighted and there is no allowable use anyone could put it to. Therefore, since you own the copyright, and did not license the code to a third party, you could have the app using your code taken down from the App Store. In contrast, if you had put an open source license on it, then anyone would be well within their rights (assuming the license allows it) to compile and release a version to whatever app store they want.
        bscphil 8y ago
        > In contrast, if you had put an open source license on it, then anyone would be well within their rights (assuming the license allows it) to compile and release a version to whatever app store they want. This is actually potentially untrue, as some versions of the GPL require that the end user must not be restricted wrt the app they download, and that's not compatible with the Apple's store requirements. See e.g. https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/6109/is-it-possible-to-have-gpl-software-in-the-mac-app-store https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/6109/is-it-possibl...
- stilley2 8y ago
  I use mynetdiary. It's not perfect but it's free and doesn't require an account. And most importantly for me it's effective (lost about 17 lbs in four months).
  - xevb3k 8y ago
    I’ve downloaded this and am trying it out. Seems pretty good so far, thanks!
- morgancmartin 8y ago
  I just use an excel spreadsheet that /u/3suns (I believe is his handle) from reddit put together. You just put in your current weight, target weight and a couple other metrics then fill in your current weight and calories consumed each day. It's supposed to have a pretty good estimate of your true TDEE after about three weeks assuming the information you input is good. Besides that, I wrote a small JS script that allows me to input various foods along with their respective protein/fat/carb macro ratios that I then combine into meals along with a few helper functions that print the total calories based off the macros. It's nothing special but it gets the job done and I don't have to worry about signing up for yet another app or getting bogged down by a bunch of features I don't care about. I'd be happy to push it and a link to the spreadsheet up to a repo if anyone else would be interested in using them.
- slezyr 8y ago
  App looks like Waistline from f-droid https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.waist.line/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.waist.line/
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
rezz 8y ago
BMI is a fairly bullshit metric. I’m 12% bodyfat and am on the cusp of “obese” sporting a six pack.
- aninteger 8y ago
  Yep, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is also obese based on BMI numbers alone.
  - AlexB138 8y ago
    A world-class athlete with a near superhuman physique may be the perfect definition of an edge case in this situation.
    - rezz 8y ago
      I’m neither of those and fall into the same “edge case”.
      - earthtolazlo 8y ago
        12% body fat with enough muscle to almost be considered obese by BMI standards is quite a few standard deviations outside of the mean. Anyone with that kind of body is well aware of that BMI shortcoming. For most of the population, it’s still a pretty good rule of thumb.
      - parliament32 8y ago
        There's a very good chance you're not testing your body fat correctly. I've gotten several friends, including bodybuilders and various athletes to get DXA scans done... pretty much every one underestimated their BF% by 5-10%. Including the ones who swore up and down by their personal trainer's caliper measurements, the BF testing machine (the electric handles one) at their local supplement store, etc. I'm 14% BF and a BMI of 20... looks to be right on point.
- dahart 8y ago
  Edit: Nevermind, stupid question. Thanks for the corrections!

xevb3k 8y ago

Downloaded the app, immediately deleted it because it asked me to create an account. Are there any similar apps which store the data locally?

feintruled 8y ago
I used the Samsung Health fitness app, you can use it without an account I think. Seems to offer pretty much the same functionality (definitely does the calorie counting and targetting).
- kofejnik 8y ago
  You don't need to create any accounts with Samsung, they already have all your data anyway, linked to your device Id. Your data is safe in their cloud, don't worry. /s
csours 8y ago
For people who are downvoting, these apps have a history of leaking personal data. For example: https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/29/17177848/under-armour-myfitnesspal-data-breach-150-million-accounts-security https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/29/17177848/under-armour-myf...
- EpicEng 8y ago
  That is one instance of one app leaking data which is "not particularly sensitive." I bet you've had e.g. your email leaked many times by now by many companies. Are calorie counting apps _more_ likely to leak data as you are implying?
  - agrinman 8y ago
    I agree it's not that sensitive...but I guess that's because I'm biased and released all my own data willingly :)
m_ke 8y ago
We have an app called Bitesnap that doesn't have an account and works offline. We are working on syncing across devices though so at some point we'll add a way to create an optinal account.
Kamshak 8y ago
Excel
waynecochran 8y ago
If you just want to build your own iOS app you can fork mine (change the part the sends email to me as a back up): https://github.com/wcochran/calfoo https://github.com/wcochran/calfoo I just create my own "refrigerator" by manually adding foods I eat (no bar code scanner or online database). BTW, someone actually took forked my code and placed a version in the App store without ever asking me. I was sort of dumbfounded that someone would do this.
- brazzledazzle 8y ago
  Looks like you don’t have a license so I think you could get it taken down if you wanted to.
  - waynecochran 8y ago
    I should have thrown a license on this, but it was really just a personal project and never meant it to be released into the wild (GitHub was just a place to store the code)... I suppose I should go back and update this, add a README, and a license.
    - haikuginger 8y ago
      GP is saying that since there is no license, the code is copyrighted and there is no allowable use anyone could put it to. Therefore, since you own the copyright, and did not license the code to a third party, you could have the app using your code taken down from the App Store. In contrast, if you had put an open source license on it, then anyone would be well within their rights (assuming the license allows it) to compile and release a version to whatever app store they want.
      - bscphil 8y ago
        > In contrast, if you had put an open source license on it, then anyone would be well within their rights (assuming the license allows it) to compile and release a version to whatever app store they want. This is actually potentially untrue, as some versions of the GPL require that the end user must not be restricted wrt the app they download, and that's not compatible with the Apple's store requirements. See e.g. https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/6109/is-it-possible-to-have-gpl-software-in-the-mac-app-store https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/6109/is-it-possibl...
stilley2 8y ago
I use mynetdiary. It's not perfect but it's free and doesn't require an account. And most importantly for me it's effective (lost about 17 lbs in four months).
- xevb3k 8y ago
  I’ve downloaded this and am trying it out. Seems pretty good so far, thanks!
morgancmartin 8y ago
I just use an excel spreadsheet that /u/3suns (I believe is his handle) from reddit put together. You just put in your current weight, target weight and a couple other metrics then fill in your current weight and calories consumed each day. It's supposed to have a pretty good estimate of your true TDEE after about three weeks assuming the information you input is good. Besides that, I wrote a small JS script that allows me to input various foods along with their respective protein/fat/carb macro ratios that I then combine into meals along with a few helper functions that print the total calories based off the macros. It's nothing special but it gets the job done and I don't have to worry about signing up for yet another app or getting bogged down by a bunch of features I don't care about. I'd be happy to push it and a link to the spreadsheet up to a repo if anyone else would be interested in using them.
slezyr 8y ago
App looks like Waistline from f-droid https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.waist.line/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.waist.line/
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

rezz 8y ago

BMI is a fairly bullshit metric. I’m 12% bodyfat and am on the cusp of “obese” sporting a six pack.

aninteger 8y ago
Yep, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is also obese based on BMI numbers alone.
- AlexB138 8y ago
  A world-class athlete with a near superhuman physique may be the perfect definition of an edge case in this situation.
  - rezz 8y ago
    I’m neither of those and fall into the same “edge case”.
    - earthtolazlo 8y ago
      12% body fat with enough muscle to almost be considered obese by BMI standards is quite a few standard deviations outside of the mean. Anyone with that kind of body is well aware of that BMI shortcoming. For most of the population, it’s still a pretty good rule of thumb.
    - parliament32 8y ago
      There's a very good chance you're not testing your body fat correctly. I've gotten several friends, including bodybuilders and various athletes to get DXA scans done... pretty much every one underestimated their BF% by 5-10%. Including the ones who swore up and down by their personal trainer's caliper measurements, the BF testing machine (the electric handles one) at their local supplement store, etc. I'm 14% BF and a BMI of 20... looks to be right on point.
dahart 8y ago
Edit: Nevermind, stupid question. Thanks for the corrections!